Spectacle of Excess: Wrestling as American Performance Art Program - Event Photos
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On June 11, 2025, guests of Kentucky to the World gathered at The Speed Museum to step into the world of suplexes, over-the-top personas, and body-slamming storytelling as Kentucky to the World brings you a one-of-a-kind live experience featuring WWE legend and OVW operator Al Snow in conversation with Sam Ford, board chair of Kentucky to the World and the only person to have taught a course on U.S. professional wrestling at MIT.
This program wasn't just about wrestling—it’s about wrestling as athletic performance art. From its gritty carnival roots to its place at the center of pop culture, professional wrestling blends theater, athleticism, and spectacle in ways no other entertainment medium does. As French theorist Roland Barthes once described it, wrestling is “a spectacle of excess”—and this event brings that spectacle to life.
As part of the evening, the wrestling ring itself was on display as a bold pop-art centerpiece inside the Speed Art Museum, highlighting wrestling’s status not just as a sport or an entertainment—but as a dynamic, living art form.
